2012 Republican Primary
The 2012 Republican Primary has been called the most important election in the history of the United States. It falls in a time of an economic recession, political unrest across the world, and declining values and ethics among government officials. Current Candidates Michele Bachmann Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota's 6th district announced her intentions to seek the office of the Presidency of the United States during a Presidential debate on June 13, 2011 hosted by CNN in New Hampshire. She later made an official announcement in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. Staff (June 13, 2011). "Rep. Michele Bachmann Makes Presidential Run Official". CNN. Retrieved July 15, 2011. Bachmann quickly rose to the top of the polls, even beating frontrunner Mitt Romney in a few. While in the lead, she won the Ames Iowa Straw Poll with 29% of the vote, narrowly beating Ron Paul. Since then, her campaign has lost momentum until hitting a rock bottom of an average 2% in most polls. Recently, she has sat between 9% and 12% of the vote, frequently placing in fourth place. Her campaign admits that she must place well in the Iowa Caucuses to have a chance at winning the nomination. If victorious, Bachmann would be the first female President of the United States, just as she is the first Republican woman to represent the state of Minnesota in the US Congress and was the first female winner of the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll. Newt Gingrich For a while since the start of his campaign in early 2011, when Gingrich left his position as a FOX News analyst to run for the White House, it seemed as though his campaign had no chance. He had consistently low numbers in almost every poll, and he placed horribly in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll. On top of that, it was revealed that Gingrich may have been $500,000 in debt to Tiffany & Co. Starting January 9th, 2011, staff members of the Gingrich campaign began to resign, and any lingering hope for his changes faded. For months, Gingrich was written off as a "also ran candidate", someone who is vaguely remembered when recalling the election. However, Gingrich had given strong debate performances, often challenging the moderators themselves as well as tearing into President Obama. Because of these performances (and his massive Twitter following), Gingrich has become a serious candidate since November 2011. Jon Huntsman The Former Utah Governor and US Ambassador to China had never been mentioned in the national spotlight before he announced his Presidential candidacy on June 21, 2011 at Liberty State Park. Often described as the most liberal candidate in the race, and one who has served in the Obama administration, Huntsman has had a difficult time capturing the attention of most Republican Primary voters, particularly those who align themselves with the Tea Party. Huntsman has also taken some minor heat in the state of South Carolina, where a significant amount of voters say they would be uncomfortable with a Mormon President, ruling out both Huntsman and Governor Romney. During the debates, Huntsman has mostly failed to connect with the audience, often making lines that seem awkward and out of place. His performances are reflected in the polls, where he consistently finishes last or second-to-last, occasionally beating Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Ron Paul The libertarian of Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced his candidacy on May 13, 2011 in Exeter, New Hampshire. Rep. Ron Paul announces candidacy for president. CNN. 2011-05-13 Retrieved 2011-05-13. For months, he had only been able to garner from about 11% to 15%, having a loyal fanbase that neither shrunk nor grew. He has become a master of winning the young vote, most likely for his fresh ideas that appeal to angry Americans who had recently entered the work force. The majority of his strength seems to rest in the state of Iowa, where he placed second in the Ames Straw Poll, barely losing to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Recently, his numbers in Iowa polls have increased sharply and he has been declared the new frontrunner for the dawning Iowa Caucuses. If he manages to win that, he will face several challenges in the rest of the country, particularly with his anti-war stances that don't settle will with the majority of Republican voters. His biggest challenger on this position has been his fellow contender, Michele Bachmann, who has tagged his statements on Iran as "dangerous." The Congresswoman of the National Intelligence Committee claims that he is unaware of the threat that Iran poses to both the US and Israel. After challenging Paul with this charge in a recent debate, Paul became the angriest he's ever been on television, and he later stated that Bachmann "hates Muslims" and that's why she feels negatively towards Iran. Rick Perry After George W. Bush's Presidency, which the liberal media has tried their best to tag as a failure, some moderate voters have been unsure of electing another Texas Governor to the White House. Since the start of his candidacy on August 13, 2011 in Charleston, South Carolina, a date strategically picked to drown out the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll, Perry has distanced himself from President Bush. At first, he successfully campaigned on his impressive record- two out of every three jobs created in America has gone to Texas due to Perry's low tax rates for businesses. Unfortunately for Perry, he suffered poor debate performances including a moment where he struggled to articulate a coherent sentence while attacking Mitt Romney over something that is, to this day unclear, and when he failed to remember one of the federal agencies he wanted to cut. Because of these gaffes, and similar debate mistakes, he has fallen in the polls. Mitt Romney The Former Governor of Massachusetts and 2008 Republican Presidential candidate has been the on-and-off frontrunner of the race even before his June Second, 2011 announcement in Statham, New Hampshire. Having run in the previous election, his base has had three years to expand. He seemed only to lose some of the spotlight when speculation of then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's possible 2012 run briefly arose after Senator McCain's loss to Obama. At each major checkpoint in the primary, he seems to be the inevitable winner. At the same time, however, he faces an uphill battle, often being dubbed as too liberal by the far-right, particularly Tea Party leaders. Their main concern with him is his record of defending abortion rights and passing an individual mandate in a Massachusetts health care law. Nevertheless, he has scored two major Tea Party endorsements: Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina. Since her decision to back Romney, Haley has faced serious heat from her constituents. Her approval rating has dropped to 38% and there is now speculation of a primary challenge for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2014. Regarding Governor Romney, his campaign has followed a pattern of losing to a more conservative challenger in the polls to bouncing back as the frontrunner. So far, these temporary challengers have been Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain (now out of the race), Newt Gingrich, and currently Ron Paul. Political analysts and experts are split on whether or not the nomination of Mitt Romney truly is inevitable. Rick Santorun The former Senator from Pennsylvania, who even the members of the Republican National Committee didn't recognize, started his campaign on June 6th, 2011. After his lengthy announcement speech, where he focused passionately on the traditional values established in his family when his ancestors first traveled to the United States, Santorum has continued to campaign on a family values theme, attempting to appeal to the social conservatives and evangelical Christians who have a considerable say in the outcome of the Iowa Caucuses. Other than the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, who runs the Iowan social conservative organization "The Family Leader", Satorum was failed to gain any significant traction in his campaign until December 2011, when he suddenly surged into the top three in most polls. Former Candidates Tim Pawlenty The Former Governor of Minnesota was in the race for the White House only for a short time before withdrawing. In the early stages of his campaign, he acknowledged that he had to do well in the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll to continue his campaign. He finished third after attempting to attack Congresswoman Bachmann on her record in Congress during the FOX News debate held the day before. It became evident that Bachmann "won" their struggle when she went on to win the straw poll. The morning after the vote, Pawlenty dropped out of the race. This is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, the winner Ames, Iowa Straw Poll has not once in history been elected President and candidates who did poorly have since risen in the polls, so Pawlenty may have been foolish for quitting so early. Thirdly, Pawlenty finished decently well in the vote to begin with. Unless he though that the only possible winners of the nomination were Bachmann and Paul, the two who finished ahead of him, Pawlenty had no reason to drop out due to finishing in third place. Herman Cain Cain's campaign was extremely unique as he was the only candidate to have never held political office. Instead, he wis a career businessman and self-proclaimed "doer". After struggling to gain traction, Cain's poll numbers suddenly rose to the top after he revealed his "9-9-9" plan. The businessman reiterated his "bold solution" in every chance he was given. This gave opponents an opportunity to make attempts in pointing out flaws in the plan, one of the most memorable attacks being the statement from Michele Bachmann that if you take 9-9-9 and flip it over, it's the "devil in details" referencing the fact that the fictional Devil's number is 6-6-6. These attacks were joined by accusations of "sexual harassment" posed against Cain that, while probably not true, forced him to retire from his campaign. Frontrunner Timeline The frontrunner for the GOP Nomination seems to have shifted the following way since John McCain won in 2008. #Mitt Romney #Sarah Palin #Mitt Romney #Mike Huckabee #Ron Paul #Mitt Romney #Michele Bachmann #Rick Perry #Herman Cain #Newt Gingrich #Mitt Romney #Ron Paul *note the amount of times Romney has been frontrunner. Next Debate Date: January 7, 2011 Location: New Hampshire Carried On: ABC News Sponsor: WMUR Candidates: TBA *note that the Iowa Caucuses take place before the debate. See Also *Republican Party *2012 Presidential Election (forum) References Category:Elections 2012 Republican Primary